Furnace wall particularly for open-hearth furnaces

ABSTRACT

A furnace wall particularly for the rear wall and the like of an industrial furnace having a furnace framing with wall posts. Horizontal carrier rails elevationally slidably mounted on the wall posts locate the wall-forming refractory bricks of each two consecutive courses of bricks. The bricks have complementary cooperating recesses to embrace the carrier rails. Fastening members are provided for the carrier rails and locking elements bearing against the wall posts releasably engage the fastening members. The fastening members are angle brackets projecting externally beyond the thickness of the wall posts with upwardly pointing free angle ends. The locking elements may be ladder-like locking elements having at least one stringer and a plurality of transverse rungs mounted on the sides of the wall posts facing away from the furnace interior so that the rungs interpose themselves between the wall posts and the free angle ends in a vertical row.

United States Patent June 6, 1972 Simon [54] FURNACE WALL PARTICULARLYFOR OPEN-HEART]! FURNACES [72] Inventor: Gunter Simon,,Wiesbaden,Germany [73] Assignee: Didier-Werke A.G., Wiesbaden, Germany [22] Filed:Aug. 3, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 60,688

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 16, 1969 Germany ..P 19 46800.9

[52] U.S. Cl. ..52/496, 52/486, 110/1 A [51 Int. Cl E04b 2/56 [58] Fieldof Search ..52/484, 483, 486, 487, 494,

52/496; 110/1 A, l L

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,281,951 5/1942 Schroeder..52/486 Primary Examiner-John E. Murtagh Attorney-Wenderoth, Lind &Ponack [57] ABSTRACT A furnace wall particularly for the rear wall andthe like of an industrial furnace having a furnace framing with wallposts. Horizontal carrier rails elevationally slidably mounted on thewall posts locate the wall-forming refractorybricks of each twoconsecutive courses of bricks. The bricks have complementary cooperatingrecesses to embrace the carrier rails. Fastening members are providedfor the carrier rails and locking elements bearing against the wallposts releasably engage the fastening members. The fastening members areangle brackets projecting externally beyond the thickness of the wallposts with upwardly pointing free angle ends. The locking elements maybe ladder-like locking elements having at least one stringer and aplurality of transverse rungs mounted on the sides of the wall postsfacing away from the furnace interior so that the rungs interposethemselves between the wall posts and the free angle ends in a verticalrow.

3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATE'N'TEnJun 6 I972 3,667, 181

sum 1 or 3 FIG.!

INVENTOR GUNTHER SIMON ATTORNEYS PATENTEDJUH 6 I972 3, 667., 181

sum 20F 3 I, INVENTOR GUNTHER SIMON ATTORNEYS PATENTEUJUH 6 m2 3. 667. l81 n INVENTOR GUNTHER SIMON ATTORNEY;

FURNACE WALL PARTICULARLY FOR OPEN-HEAR'IH FURNACES The inventionrelates to the construction of furnace walls, particularly the rearwalls and the like of industrial furnaces, such as open-hearth furnaces,in which the wall-forming refractory bricks of each two consecutivecourses of bricks are directly located by horizontal carrier barselevationally slidably mounted on the wall posts of the furnace framingwith complementary recesses in the bricks cooperating to embrace thecarrier rail.

The furnace walls, particularly the rear walls of industrial furnaces,such as open-hearth furnaces, are among the most highly stressed zones.They are close to the melting flame, exposed to spurts of slag, theimpact of a fresh burden, high temperature fluctuations and the presenceof much oxygen, all of which naturally lead to rapid wear of thebrickwork. Repairs are therefore often necessary to enable an efficientmelting routine to be maintained. Such intermediate repairs are veryexpensive, particularly when the brickwork is so held that thereplacement of parts thereof presents considerable difficulties.

Furthermore, it is essential so to suspend the bricks forming thefurnace walls that they will remain in position and not cave in or evenfall into the furnace interior when in the course of operation of thefurnace the lower regions of the supporting wall structure give way.

In the present invention there are provided, on the vertical posts ofthe furnace framing, horizontal and elevationally adjustable carrierrails which bridge the interspace between two neighboring posts, eachdirectly locating the bricks of two consecutive courses of bricks byvirtue of these bricks having cooperating recesses adapted to embracethe carrier rail which at its free end is formed with hooks which withclearance engage projecting flange portions or the like on the wallposts.

A wall construction of this latter kind, which the present inventionfurther seeks to develop, still creates difficulties when it is desiredto carry out intermediate repairs and necessitates the performance ofsome time-consuming and hence expensive work. When it is desired tocarry out such an intermediate repair on such a furnace wall while thefurnace is hot, the first necessary step is to undo the carriersupporting that portion of the brickwork that requires renewal. Thismust be done by burning off all the hook ends that project behind theflange parts of the posts and that extend from carriers associated withthe brickwork that is to be renewed. Not until this has been done canthe bricks be pushed inwards into the furnace interior. Since in someinstances it may be necessary to remove an entire worn wall for a mainrepair the complicated and timeconsuming necessity of releasing thecarriers is a great nuisance, and the undesirable period for which thefurnace must remain idle is of considerable duration.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to permit wornunplated furnace walls or parts thereof to be removed prior to theirrenewal, i.e., to perform part or main repairs that are due in a simpleand easy way with a view to saving work and time and to taking thefurnace into operation sooner than would otherwise have been possible.

A further object is to provide a construction wherein the carrier railsare provided with fastening members that are releasably engageable bylocking elements bearing against the wall posts. This permits thefastening elements to be released by removing the locking elements andhence the associated horizontal carrier rails and the bricks they carryto be detached from the wall posts of the furnace shell in a manner thatis as simple as it is quick. The released worn brickwork which is to bereplaced can be tipped into the furnace interior without further ado.

A further object is to provide a construction wherein one lockingelement may be arranged releasably to locate a plurality of fasteningmembers on one wall post. This enables a plurality of carrier rails andthe courses of bricks they cany to be simultaneously released from thewall posts. Ifthe locking elements are suitably dimensioned the furnacewall can thus be divided into several areas or sections so that each canbe individually released from the wall posts and then tipped into thefurnace interior.

A still further object is to provide. a construction wherein the freeends of the carrier rails and their sides facing away from the furnaceinterior may be provided, by way of fastening members with anglebrackets that project on the outside of the furnace beyond the thicknessof the wall posts, and that have upwardly pointing angle ends and, forlocating the carrier rails and the brickwork supported by them,ladder-like locking elements consisting of at least one stringer and aplurality of transverse rungs may be provided and adapted so to bemounted on the sides of the wall posts facing away from the furnaceinterior so that the rungs interpose themselves between the wall postsand the free angle ends of the bricket members in a vertical row andthus locate them.

In order to provide for unequal expansion of individual courses duringoperation of the furnace, causing the elevational level of the carrierrails to change, and in order nevertheless to maintain the locationafforded by the rungs of the locking elements to the fastening membersand more specifically the angle ends of the angle brackets, the lengthof the angle ends of the angle brackets may be arranged to exceed thethickness of the rungs of the locking element.

With the above and other objects in view which will become apparent fromthe detailed description below, some preferred embodiments of theinvention are shown in the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the construction of a furnace wallaccording to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the furnace wall;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the furnace wall comprising dividedlocking elements;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of a furnace wall, also indicating areleasing tool;

FIG. 5 is an external fragmentary view of the wall of an electric.fumace; and,

FIG. 6 is a cross section of such a wall portion.

The furnace wall consists of a wearing wall of refractory bricks lforming a lining on the inside of the posts 2 of the furnace framing.The ends of the bricks l of the wearing wall facing away from thefurnace interior are each formed with a recess 3 or the like. Locationof the bricks 1 by a carrier rail 4 during the assembly of the wall isobtained by so placing the bricks that the recesses 3 of the bricks l inconsecutive courses 5 together embrace the carriers 4. At the same timethe bricks 1 are maintained in contact with the carriers 4 which thuskeep them in position. One carrier 4 holds two consecutive courses 5.

For locating the carriers 4 on the wall posts 2, the free ends and thesides of the carriers facing away from the furnace interior are fittedwith angle brackets 7 forming fastening members 6. The length of theangle brackets 7 is so determined that when the carriers 4 are placedflush against the inside faces of the wall posts 2, the angle bracketsproject a certain distance on the outside of the wall posts. The angledends 8 of the angle brackets 7 point upwards. The carriers 4 are locatedon the wall posts 2 by the interposition of locking elements 9. Thelocking elements 9 may be simple integral locking bars 9 (FIGS. 4, 5 and6) or they may be ladder-like elements (FIGS. 1, 2 and 3) consisting ofone or two stringers 10 to which rungs l l are attached, or which areinterconnected by rungs l 1. The spacing of the rungs 11 corresponds tothe spacing of the carriers 4 for the bricks 1 of the wearing wall.

The carriers 4 and hence the courses of bricks 5 are located on the wallposts 2 by the locking elements 9 and 9 after the wearing wall or partthereof has been erected. During erection care is taken to see that theangle brackets 7 of consecutive carriers 4 in each two courses 5 bearagainst the two sides of a wall post 2. The lengthof the carriers 4 iscut accordingly so that a double row of upwardly pointing angle ends 8of the angle brackets will project on the outside. By inserting thelocking elements 9 from above in such a way that the rungs 1 l areinterposed between the angle ends 8 and the outsides of the wall posts 2all the carriers 4 of the particular part of the structural wall arelocated and locked.

The carriers 4 are just as readily released by displacing theladder-like locking element, 9 upwards parallel to the wall posts 2until the rungs ll cease to engage behind the free angle ends 8 of theangle brackets 7 of the carriers 4. It is then easy to tip the releasedportion of the wall into the interior of the hearth. The lockingelements 9 are released by pulling them upwards from above or by pushingthem upwards from below. FIG. 4 illustrates a tool 12 fitted withejectors 13 adapted to engage the undersides of the locking elements 9in the form of individual bars. By pulling or pushing the tool 12upwards all the locking elements 9' bearing against a wall member 2 canthus be lifted out at the same time.

The locking elements 9, 10, 11 may also be of composite construction,i.e., for instance according to the height of the wall two or morelocking elements9 may be associated the one above the other with onewall member 2. If the length of the carriers 4 is also suitably selecteda wall can thus be easily subdivided into a plurality of separatelylocatable and releasable areas of brickwork.

In order to enable unequal expansion of the several brick 1 courses 5,which results in a change in the elevational position of the carriers 4,to be absorbed while the furnace is in course of use, and sufficientcontact between the rungs l1 and the angle ends 8 to be retained, thelength of the angle ends 8 is arranged slightly to exceed the thicknessof the rungs l l.

Naturally a different form of construction of the bracket members 6, ofthe carriers 4 and of the locking elements could be envisaged.

The invention is applicable with particular advantage to electricfurnaces. It has been the practice in the past to repair the higher ratewear in the phase region from inside the furnace. However, this alwaysinvolves a number of difficulties. The proposed construction of thefurnace chamber permits brickwork portions in the phase region wherethey have been subjected to higher rate of wear to be removed from theoutside. For this purpose windows 15 are provided in the sheet metalenvelope 14 of the electric furnace in the region of the transformerphase..The bricks l in the region of the windows 15 are located bycarriers 4, the angle ends 7 of fastenings elements 6 attached theretoand locking elements 9. In order to ensure a firm anchorage of thecarriers 4 the free ends of the locking elements 9' are welded to theoutside of the sheet metal envelope 14 (FIGS. and 6).

The brickwork in the regon of the window is released as alreadydescribed by disengaging the locking elements 9 from the angle ends 7.The bricks 1 can then be pulled outwards and replaced by fresh bricks.

The angle ends 7 fitted to the sheet metal envelope 14 are of suitablesize to permit variations in the level of the brick courses to beabsorbed.

I claim:

1. A furnace wall, particularly for the rear wall and the like of anindustrial furnace, comprising a furnace framing having wall posts,horizontal carrier rails elevationally slidably mounted on said wallposts for locating the wall-forming refractory bricks of each twoconsecutive courses of bricks, said bricks having complementary recessescooperating to embrace said earrier rails, fastening members for saidcarrier rails, locking elements bearing against said wall postsreleasably engaging said fastening members, one of said locking elementsreleasably locating a plurality of said fastening members on one of saidwall posts.

2. A furnace wall according to claim 1 wherein said fastening memberscomprise angle brackets projecting externally beyond the thickness ofsaid wall posts with upwardly pointing free angle ends, said lockingelements comprising ladder-like locking'elements having at least onestringer and a plurality of transverse rungs mounted on the sides ofsaid wall posts facing away from the furnace interior so that said rungsinterpose themselves between said wall posts and said free angle ends ina vertical row.

3. A furnace wall according to claim 2 wherein the length of said freeangle ends of said brackets exceeds the thickness of saidrungs.

1. A furnace wall, particularly for the rear wall and the like of anindustrial furnace, comprising a furnace framing having wall posts,horizontal carrier rails elevationally slidably mounted on said wallposts for locating the wall-forming refractory bricks of each twoconsecutive courses of bricks, said bricks having complementary recessescooperating to embrace said carrier rails, fastening members for saidcarrier rails, locking elements bearing against said wall postsreleasably engaging said fastening members, one of said locking elementsreleasably locating a plurality of said fastening members on one of saidwall posts.
 2. A furnace wall according to claim 1 wherein saidfastening members comprise angle brackets projecting externally beyondthe thickness of said wall posts with upwardly pointing free angle ends,said locking elements comprising ladder-like locking elements having atleast one stringer and a plurality of transverse rungs mounted on thesides of said wall posts facing away from the furnace interior so thatsaid rungs interpose themselves between said wall posts and said freeangle ends in a vertical row.
 3. A furnace wall according to claim 2wherein the length of said free angle ends of said brackets exceeds thethickness of said rungs.